Early modern warfare Books

650 products


  • The Napoleonic Wars

    Headline Publishing Group The Napoleonic Wars

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA compact guide to the Napoleonic Wars. Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Age of Napoleon • The Revolutionary Background • The Making of a Reputation • Artillery • The Italian Campaign • Infantry • Egypt and Syria • Brumaire and Marengo • Ruler and Lawgiver • Ulm and Austerlitz • War at Sea • Napoleon's Art of War • The Jena Campaign • Grande Armée • Berlin to Tilsit • Cavalry • Napoleon in Spain • Napoleon's Family • The Wagram Campaign • The Spanish Ulcer 1809-11 • The • Imperial Court • The War of 1812 • Russia: The Niemen to Moscow • Russia: Fire and Snow • Military Medicine • The Spanish Ulcer 1812-14 • The Home Front: Napoleonic France • The Battle of the Nations • Napoleon's Greatest Adversaries • The Champagne Campaign • The Congress of Vienna • The Hundred Days: Return and Attack • The Imperial Guard • The Hundred Days: Waterloo • Imperial Twilight: St Helena • Napoleon's Legacy.

    1 in stock

    £7.59

  • A Short History of the Wars of the Roses Short

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC A Short History of the Wars of the Roses Short

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisDavid Grummitt is the Head of the School of Humanities at the Canterbury Christ Church University. He is the author of The Calais Garrison: War and Military Service in England, 1436-1558 (2008).

    Out of stock

    £14.99

  • Lincoln and the Election of 1860

    MP-SIL Southern Illinois Uni Lincoln and the Election of 1860

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAbraham Lincoln looms large in American memory. He is admired for his many accomplishments, including his skills as an orator and writer and his unswerving leadership during the strife-ridden years of the Civil War. Now, Michael Green unveils another side to the sixteenth president: that of the astute political operator.Trade ReviewMichael S. Green has produced a highly readable study of the 1860 election, which . . . appears designed for undergraduate classroom adoption. Green is meticulous about providing context essential for guiding student understanding of a complicated four-way campaign. He also provides sharp portraits of the contest's memorable cast of characters. But most significantly, Green offers a nuanced depiction of candidate Lincoln, one that manages to emphasize both his 'shrewdness and, when necessary, his selfishness." - Matthew Pinsker, Journal of the Civil War Era"In Lincoln and the Election of 1860, Michael S. Green provides a short, useful synthesis. While fully up-to-date in terms of sources, it is classic insider political history that manages to restore genuine suspense to a well-worn story." - Stewart Winger, Journal of Southern History"With keen insights . . . Green presents Lincoln as an exceptionally talented political operative who worked hard to get the Republican presidential nomination. [He] provides an intelligent and felicitous narrative of Lincoln's rise to power during the 1850s [and] a learned and astute account of the 1860 national Republican convention in Chicago." - Mitchell Snay, Project Muse"It is easy for modern audiences to forget that Lincoln, above all, was a politician. College of Southern Nevada history professor Michael S. Green reminds readers of this fact. He examines Lincoln's role in the presidential campaign of 1860, and emphasizes not only what Lincoln publicly accomplished, but also what he did behind the scenes." - S. Chandler Lightly, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society "This must surely be the best brief account of the 1860 election available. Green has crafted a fast-paced narrative of one of the most exciting electoral contests in history. The well-known characters involved-Seward, Chase, Douglas, and, of course, Lincoln-take on new life as Green recounts their dazzling political skills and occasional foibles. Filled with great anecdotes but informed by the best of recent scholarship, this is the book to read to get a quick glimpse into the whirlwind of politics on the eve of the Civil War." - Michael Vorenberg, author of Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment"Green gives readers a seat at Lincoln's elbow during the 1860 campaign, revealing the candidate's principles and political savvy. We watch as Lincoln courts friends, soothes opponents, and plots his own election, all while maintaining the illusion that he is above the fray. Green's extensive research and deep knowledge of the era give us an engaging and definitive picture of why the 1860 election turned out the way it did, and just what kind of a man it put into the presidency." - Heather Cox Richardson, author of West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War"Anyone who wonders how and why Abraham Lincoln became the nation's sixteenth president will find the answers in this lucid and insightful account." - Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University "Michael Green has produced a well-written and lively account of Abraham Lincoln and the election of 1860 that will appeal to both scholars and general readers. Scholars will appreciate the synthesis of generations of scholarship and Green's eye for quotes that are both uncommon and telling. General readers will enjoy the lively and crisp narrative that unfolds the dramatic events of how Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States." - Andrew Slap, author of The Doom of Reconstruction: The Liberal Republicans in the Civil War Era"Deeply researched, thoughtfully structured, and written in an eloquent and highly readable language, the book offers a concise, coherent, and insightful account of how Lincoln won the most important presidential election in the nation's history. With fresh materials, insights, and wit, Lincoln and the Election of 1860 advances our understanding of not only how Lincoln had been produced by his time but more importantly how he, through the election, had evolved from a politician into a statesman with the ability to strike a perfect balance between personal ambition and commitment to the party's and nation's cause. The book is indisputably an essential reading for Civil War and Lincoln studies, as well as a classical manual of party politics of nineteenth-century United States." - Xi Wang, author of The Trial of Democracy: Black Suffrage and Northern Republicans, 1860-1910"Little known outside his state at the beginning of the 1850s, the long-shot Lincoln rose from an often frustrated local politician to lead the Republican party in the critical contest that brought him and his party to power. In addition to retelling the story, Green stresses Lincoln's sustained, vigorous involvement in his drive for the nomination and in the campaign that followed. . . . Readers looking for a short account will get a useful introduction to understanding a complex, and ultimately victorious, highly intelligent and committed politician." - Joel H. Silbey, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association"Lincoln and the Election of 1860 by Michael S. Green focuses upon the political acumen of Abraham Lincoln in one of the most critically important presidential campaigns. . . . a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library Lincoln Studies and 19th Century American History collections." - James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review Table of Contents Preface 1 Prelude to a Turning Point 2 Tasting a Candidacy 3 Everybody’s Second Choice 4 From Candidate to Leader 5 The Making of the President, 1860 Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £15.26

  • Napoleon The Man Behind the Myth

    HarperCollins Publishers Napoleon The Man Behind the Myth

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisNapoleon is an out-and-out masterpiece and a joy to read' Sir Antony Beevor, author of StalingradA landmark new biography that presents the man behind the many myths. The first writer in English to go back to the original European sources, Adam Zamoyski's portrait of Napoleon is historical biography at its finest.Napoleon inspires passionately held and often conflicting visions. Was he a god-like genius, Romantic avatar, megalomaniac monster, compulsive warmonger or just a nasty little dictator?While he displayed elements of these traits at certain times, Napoleon was none of these things. He was a man and, as Adam Zamoyski presents him in this landmark biography, a rather ordinary one at that. He exhibited some extraordinary qualities during some phases of his life but it is hard to credit genius to a general who presided over the worst (and self-inflicted) disaster in military history and who single-handedly destroyed the great enterprise he and others had toiled so hard to constructTrade Review'A pacy and characteristically unintimidated picture of how and why Napoleon achieved what he did and then succeeded in screwing it all up …. 600 pages of narrative history will seldom pass so easily' David Crane, Spectator 'Adam Zamoyski refreshingly downsizes the Corsican commander-in-chief' Nicky Haslam, Spectator ‘Always elegant in style and original in analysis. Zamoyski, a master of the sources and of the culture and politics that created his subject, produces a fresh, nuanced, beautifully written, gripping and outstanding biography of Napoleon that reveals him to be a triumph of luck and accident as much as the invincible genius of the legend’ Simon Sebag-Montefiore, author of The Romanovs and Jerusalem: The Biography ‘Napoleon is an out-and-out masterpiece and a joy to read’ Sir Antony Beevor, author of Stalingrad ‘A lifetime’s diligent research and profound thinking about Napoleon and his times has gone into this hugely readable, highly enjoyable and well-balanced biography. Zamoyski is at the top of his game as a biographer’ Andrew Roberts, Visiting Professor, Department of War Studies, King’s College, London ‘Adam Zamoyski has retold a story that we thought we knew and made it fresh: stripping away two centuries of mythology, discarding the apocryphal stories and legends, he finally brings us the real Napoleon’ Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine

    4 in stock

    £15.29

  • Rough Crossings

    Vintage Publishing Rough Crossings

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisRough Crossings is the astonishing story of the struggle to freedom by thousands of African-American slaves who fled the plantations to fight behind British lines in the American War of Independence. With gripping, powerfully vivid story-telling, Simon Schama follows the escaped blacks into the fires of the war, and into freezing, inhospitable Nova Scotia where many who had served the Crown were betrayed in their promises to receive land at the war''s end. Their fate became entwined with British abolitionists: inspirational figures such as Granville Sharp, the flute-playing father-figure of slave freedom, and John Clarkson, the ''Moses'' of this great exodus, who accompanied the blacks on their final rough crossing to Africa, where they hoped that freedom would finally greet them.Trade ReviewThis brilliant book by the leading historian of our times about a subject of great significance will delight professional historians and entrance the reading public. Rough Crossings succeeds in all respects. It is a 'tour de force' and a landmark in historical scholarship * Times Higher Education Supplement *Schama's gift for plunging us into the very centre of the action, whether in Charleston, London or on the African coast, makes reading an exhilarating experience * Daily Telegraph *Brilliant and deeply moving * Observer *Schama has a remarkable ability to stare into the anonymous faces in the crowd and to pluck them from historical obscurity. Rough Crossings gives voice to people who have, until now, remained mere names on duty lists -- James WalvinOne only has to dip into Rough Crossings to appreciate the command of detail that lies behind his apparently effortless ability to come up with the right quotation or description * Times Literary Supplement *

    2 in stock

    £17.09

  • Waterloo

    Vintage Publishing Waterloo

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAfter midnight, 19 June 1815...On the battlefield more than 50,000 men and 7,000 horses lie dead and wounded; Drawing on a multiplicity of contemporary voices and viewpoints, Paul O’Keeffe brings into focus as never before the sights, sounds and smells of the battlefield, of conquest and defeat, of celebration and riot.Trade ReviewIf you buy one book to mark this Waterloo anniversary, buy this one -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *It is all here – and all told with the same verve, eye for anecdote and command of the material. This is a very good book, and a model of how narrative history should be written... anybody remotely interested in the battle should read * The Spectator *Invigorating and compelling * Daily Telegraph *I was gripped by the wealth of detail and humanity in the book... This is how the tales of battles should be told, whatever the time, place or outcome -- Emily Mayhew, author of WoundedA grim story – but well worth the telling -- Saul David * Evening Standard *

    Out of stock

    £14.39

  • How the French Won Waterloo  or Think They Did

    Cornerstone How the French Won Waterloo or Think They Did

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisStephen Clarke lives in Paris, where he divides his time between writing and not writing.His Merde novels have been bestsellers all over the world, including France. His non-fiction books include Talk to the Snail, an insider's guide to understanding the French; How the French Won Waterloo (or Think They Did), an amused look at France's continuing obsession with Napoleon; Dirty Bertie: An English King Made in France, a biography of Edward VII; and 1000 Years of Annoying the French, which was a number one bestseller in Britain.Research for The French Revolution and What Went Wrong took him deep into French archives in search of the actual words, thoughts and deeds of the revolutionaries and royalists of 1789. He has now re-emerged to ask modern Parisians why they have forgotten some of the true democratic heroes of the period, and opted to idolize certain maniacs. Follow Stephen on @SClarkeWriter and www.stepTrade ReviewIndeed, as Stephen Clarke demonstrates in this cheeky book, they have spent two whole centuries 'indulging in outrageous denial' * Daily Mail *Clarke’s tone is larky, but his outrageously readable work is based on extensive research, with a wealth of enticing detail. * Daily Mail *This is Waterloo as stand-up, funny and caustic by turns * BBC History Magazine *

    4 in stock

    £10.44

  • Glencoe

    Penguin Books Ltd Glencoe

    4 in stock

    Book Synopsis'You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and to put all to the sword under seventy.' This was the treacherous and cold-blooded order ruthlessly carried out on 13 February 1692, when the Campbells slaughtered their hosts the MacDonalds at the Massacre of Glencoe. This book describes the terrible events at Glencoe.

    4 in stock

    £11.69

  • The Peninsular War

    Penguin Books Ltd The Peninsular War

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFor centuries Spain had been the most feared and predatory power in Europe - it had the largest empire and one of the world''s great navies to defend it. Nothing could have prepared the Spanish for the devastating implosion of 1805-14. Trafalgar destroyed its navy and the country degenerated into a brutalized shambles with French and British armies marching across it at will. The result was a war which killed over a million Spaniards and ended its empire.This book is the first in a generation to come to terms with this spectacular and terrible conflict, immortalised by Goya and the arena in which Wellington and his redcoats carved out one of the greatest episodes in British military history.Table of ContentsLisbon - the origins of the Peninsula War; Madrid - the Iberian insurrections, May-June 1808; Bailen - the summer campaign of 1808; Vimeiro - the liberation of Portugal, August 1808; Somosierra - Napoleon's revenge, November-December 1808; La Coruna - the campaign of Sir John Moore, December 1808-January 1809; Oporto - conquest frustrated, January-June 1809; Talavera - the fall of the Junta Central, July 1809-January 1810; Seville - the Bonaparte Kingdom of Spain 1808-1813; Pancorbo - the emergence of guerrilla war, 1808-1810; Cadiz - the making of the Spanish Revolution, 1810-1812; Torres Vedras - the defence of Prtugal, July 1810-March 1811; Albuera - stalemate on the Portuguese frontier, March-December 1811; Badajoz - the Anglo-Portuguese offensive of 1812; Burgos - the autumn campaign of 1812; Vitoria - the defeat of King Joseph, January-June 1813; Pyrenees - the invasion of France, July-November 1813; Bascara - peace and thereafter.

    1 in stock

    £17.99

  • Napoleons Wars

    Penguin Books Ltd Napoleons Wars

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisCharles Esdaile is Professor of History at the University of Liverpool. His The Peninsular War was acclaimed by many reviewers including Andrew Roberts and Bernard Cornwell.

    Out of stock

    £15.29

  • Napoleon the Great

    Penguin Books Ltd Napoleon the Great

    7 in stock

    Book Synopsis''A Napoleonic triumph of a book, irresistibly galloping with the momentum of a cavalry charge'' Simon Sebag Montefiore''Simply dynamite'' Bernard CornwellFrom Andrew Roberts, author of the bestsellers The Storm of War and Churchill: Walking with Destiny, this is the definitive modern biography of Napoleon.Napoleon Bonaparte lived one of the most extraordinary of all human lives. In the space of just twenty years, from October 1795 when as a young artillery captain he cleared the streets of Paris of insurrectionists, to his final defeat at the (horribly mismanaged) battle of Waterloo in June 1815, Napoleon transformed France and Europe. After seizing power in a coup d''état he ended the corruption and incompetence into which the Revolution had descended. In a series of dazzling battles he reinvented the art of warfare; in peace, he completely remade the laws of France, modernised her systems of education and administration, and presided over a flourishing of the beautiful ''Empire style'' in the arts. The impossibility of defeating his most persistent enemy, Great Britain, led him to make draining and ultimately fatal expeditions into Spain and Russia, where half a million Frenchmen died and his Empire began to unravel.More than any other modern biographer, Andrew Roberts conveys Napoleon''s tremendous energy, both physical and intellectual, and the attractiveness of his personality, even to his enemies. He has walked 53 of Napoleon''s 60 battlefields, and has absorbed the gigantic new French edition of Napoleon''s letters, which allows a complete re-evaluation of this exceptional man. He overturns many received opinions, including the myth of a great romance with Josephine: she took a lover immediately after their marriage, and, as Roberts shows, he had three times as many mistresses as he acknowledged.Of the climactic Battle of Leipzig in 1813, as the fighting closed around them, a French sergeant-major wrote, ''No-one who has not experienced it can have any idea of the enthusiasm that burst forth among the half-starved, exhausted soldiers when the Emperor was there in person. If all were demoralised and he appeared, his presence was like an electric shock. All shouted Vive l''Empereur! and everyone charged blindly into the fire.''The reader of this biography will understand why this was so.Trade ReviewSimply dynamite ... Roberts's fine book encompasses all the evidence to give a brilliant portrait of the man -- Bernard Cornwell * Mail on Sunday *Masterly ... a huge, rich, deep, witty, humane and unapologetically admiring biography ... gloriously enjoyable -- Dan Jones * Daily Telegraph *

    7 in stock

    £17.09

  • Britain Against Napoleon

    Penguin Books Ltd Britain Against Napoleon

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom Roger Knight, established by the multi-award winning The Pursuit of Victory as ''an authority ... none of his rivals can match'' (N.A.M. Rodger), Britain Against Napoleon is the first book to explain how the British state successfully organised itself to overcome Napoleon - and how very close it came to defeatFor more than twenty years after 1793, the French army was supreme in continental Europe. How was it that despite multiple changes of government and the assassination of a Prime Minister, Britain survived and eventually won a generation-long war against a regime which at its peak in 1807 commanded many times the resources and manpower?This book looks beyond the familiar exploits (and bravery) of the army and navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It shows the degree to which, because of the magnitude and intensity of hostilities, the capacities of the whole British population were involved: industrialists, farmers, shipbuilders, gunsmiths and gunpowder manufacturers. The intelligence war was also central; but no participants were more important, Knight argues, than the bankers and international traders of the City of London, without whom the armies of Britain''s allies could not have taken the field.ROGER KNIGHT was Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum until 2000, and now teaches at the Greenwich Maritime Institute at the University of Greenwich. In 2005 he published, with Allen Lane/Penguin, The Pursuit of Victory: the life and achievement of Horatio Nelson, which won the Duke of Westminster''s Medal for Military History, the Mountbatten Award and the Anderson Medal of the Society for Nautical Research. The present book is a culmination of his life-long interest in the workings of the late eighteenth-century British state.''Superb'' - SpectatorTrade ReviewA wonderfully disorienting read ... for [Knight] the real heroes of the struggle against Napoleon are not Wellington or Nelson or Collingwood or Cochrane but the clerks and administrators and 'silent men of business' who put Britain's armies in the field and kept her ships at sea and her allies in funds and ultimately won the war ... there is scarcely a wasted sentence here, not a duff page, not a chapter ... that does not bring you very close to the realities of a total war -- David Crane * Spectator *

    1 in stock

    £17.99

  • Military Dispatches

    Penguin Books Ltd Military Dispatches

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThe vivid and exciting accounts written from the front line, taking the story of the British war with Napoleon from its desperate beginnings in Portugal to the final triumph at WaterlooThe Duke of Wellington was not only an incomparable battle commander but a remarkably expressive, fluent and powerful writer. His dispatches have long been viewed as classics of military literature and have been pillaged by all writers on the Peninsular War and the final campaigns in France and Belgium ever since they were published. This new selection allows the reader to follow the extraordinary epic in Wellington''s own words - from the tentative beginnings in 1808, clinging to a small area of Portugal in the face of overwhelming French power across the whole of the rest of Europe, to the campaigns that over six years devastated opponent after opponent. The book ends with Wellington''s invasion of France and the coda of ''the 100 days'' that ended with Napoleon''s final defeat at Wat

    Out of stock

    £11.69

  • Hamilton

    Oxford University Press Inc Hamilton

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn Hamilton: The Energetic Founder, R. B. Bernstein provides a thorough history that reveals Hamilton''s status as one of the key founding fathers of the United States.Hamilton: The Energetic Founder is a brief introduction to the life, thought, work, and legacy of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), but it is not a traditional biography. Public curiosity about Hamilton, his life, and his work has swelled, particularly among those intrigued by popular-culture portrayals in the Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical. This book presents a summary of Hamilton''s life and explores his role in revolution, constitutionalism, economics, diplomacy, and war, as well as his relationship to honor culture and duelling. The epilogue considers Hamilton''s legacies.The book considers Hamilton as a key founding father, focusing on his work as a politician, a constitutional thinker, and the nation''s first secretary of the treasury. In that role, Hamilton was perhaps the leading American domestic pTrade ReviewThis concise, elegant, and erudite presentation of the life of Alexander Hamilton is just what we need. As Americans look to the past to answer questions about our present and future, Bernstein has given us an excellent history of the life and times of a man who did so much to set the course of the early United States. * Annette Gordon-Reed, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family *Yet again, R. B. Bernstein demonstrates his mastery of the lives and legacies of the men who made America. His concise and illuminating pen portrait of Alexander Hamilton: The Energetic Founder is a welcome addition to the founders' bookshelf, an appropriate pendant to the author's excellent brief biography of Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton's nemesis. * Peter S. Onuf, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor, University of Virginia *Alexander Hamilton was the most consistent and insistent nationalist among the founding fathers. R. B. Bernstein's admirably concise and clear book presents an excellent guide to Hamilton's constitutional and political thought and activities. Bernstein introduces us to Hamilton's lifetime of energetic advocacy, and he shows us why Hamilton mattered then and still matters now. * William E. Nelson, Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law, New York University School of Law *...offers a fine, concise case for seeing Alexander Hamilton as the father of the US government. * The Guardian *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Life 2. Revolution 3. Politics 4. Law and Constitutionalism 5. Economy 6. Diplomacy and War 7. Honor and Dueling Epilogue: Legacies Notes Further Reading Index

    2 in stock

    £14.99

  • The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution

    OUP USA The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution introduces scholars, students and generally interested readers to the formative event in American history. In thirty-three individual essays, the Handbook provides readers with in-depth analysis of the Revolution's many sides.Table of ContentsList of Maps ; Contributors ; Introduction: American Revolutions,Edward G. Gray and Jane Kamensky ; Part I. Cultures and Crises ; 1. Britain's American Problem: The International Perspective, P. J. Marshall ; 2. The Unsettled Periphery: The Backcountry on the Eve of the American Revolution, William B. Hart ; 3. The Polite and the Plebian, Michael Zuckerman ; 4. Political Protest and the World of Goods, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich ; 5. The Imperial Crisis, Craig B. Yirush ; 6. The Struggle Within: Colonial Politics on the Eve of Independence, Michael A. McDonnell ; 7. The Democratic Moment: The Revolution and Popular Politics, Ray Raphael ; 8. Independence before and during the Revolution, Benjamin H. Irvin ; Part II. War ; 9. The Continental Army, Caroline Cox ; 10. The British Army and the War of Independence, Stephen Conway ; 11. The War in the Cities, Mark A. Peterson ; 12. The War in the Countryside, Allan Kulikoff ; 13. Native Peoples in the Revolutionary War, Jane T. Merritt ; 14. The African Americans' Revolution, Gary B. Nash ; 15. Women in the American Revolutionary War, Sarah M. S. Pearsall ; 16. Loyalism, Edward Larkin ; 17. The Revolutionary War and Europe's Great Powers, Paul W. Mapp ; 18. Funding the Revolution: Monetary and Fiscal Policy in Eighteenth-Century America, Stephen Mihm ; Part III. A Revolutionary Settlement ; 19. The Impact of the War on British Politics, Harry T. Dickinson ; 20. The Trials of the Confederation, Terry Bouton ; 21. A More Perfect Union: The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution, Max M. Edling ; 22. The Evangelical Ascendancy in Revolutionary America, Susan Juster ; 23. The Problems of Slavery, Christopher Leslie Brown ; 24. Rights, Eric Slauter ; 25. The Empire That Britain Kept, Eliga H. Gould ; Part IV. New Orders ; 26. The American Revolution and a New National Politics, Rosemarie Zagarri ; 27. Republican Art and Architecture, Martha J. McNamara ; 28. Print Culture after the Revolution, Catherine O'Donnell ; 29. Republican Law, Christopher L. Tomlins ; 30. Discipline, Sex, and the Republican Self, Clare A. Lyons ; 31. The Laboring Republic, Graham Russell Gao Hodges ; 32. The Republic in the World, 1783-1803, J. M. Opal ; 33. America's Cultural Revolution in Transnational Perspective, Leora Auslander ; Index

    15 in stock

    £44.64

  • The Founding Fathers A Very Short Introduction

    Oxford University Press Inc The Founding Fathers A Very Short Introduction

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Founding Fathers is a concise, accessible overview of the brilliant, flawed, and quarrelsome group of lawyers, politicians, merchants, military men, and clergy known as the Founding Fathers--who got as close to the ideal of the Platonic philosopher-kings as American or world history has ever seen. R. B. Bernstein reveals Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and the other founders not as shining demigods but as imperfect human beings--people much like us--who nevertheless achieved political greatness. They emerge here as men who sought to transcend their intellectual world even as they were bound by its limits, men who strove to lead the new nation even as they had to defer to the great body of the people and learn with them the possibilities and limitations of politics. Bernstein deftly traces the dynamic forces that molded these men and their contemporaries as British colonists in North America and as intellectual citizens of the Atlantic civilization''s Age of Enlightenment. He analyzes the American Revolution, the framing and adoption of state and federal constitutions, and the key concepts and problems that both shaped and circumscribed the founders'' achievements as the United States sought its place in the world. Finally, he charts the shifting reputations of the founders and examines the specific ways that interpreters of the Constitution have used the Founding Fathers. A masterly blend of old and new scholarship, brimming with apt description and insightful analysis, this book offers a digestible account of how the Founding Fathers were formed, what they did, and how generations of Americans have viewed them.Table of ContentsPreface ; 1 Words, Images, Meanings ; 2 Contexts: The History That Made the Founding Fathers ; 3 Achievements and Challenges: The History the Founding Fathers Made ; 4 Legacies: What History Has Made of the Founding Fathers ; Epilogue: The Founding Fathers, History, and Us ; Chronology ; Appendix ; References ; Further Reading ; Index

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • 1777

    Oxford University Press Inc 1777

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisIn the autumn of 1777, near Saratoga, New York, an inexperienced and improvised American army led by General Horatio Gates faced off against the highly trained British and German forces led by General John Burgoyne. The British strategy in confronting the Americans in upstate New York was to separate rebellious New England from the other colonies. Despite inferior organization and training, the Americans exploited access to fresh reinforcements of men and materiel, and ultimately handed the British a stunning defeat. The American victory, for the first time in the war, confirmed that independence from Great Britain was all but inevitable. Assimilating the archaeological remains from the battlefield along with the many letters, journals, and memoirs of the men and women in both camps, Dean Snow''s 1777 provides a richly detailed narrative of the two battles fought at Saratoga over the course of thirty-three tense and bloody days. While the contrasting personalities of Gates and Burgoyne are well known, they are but two of the many actors who make up the larger drama of Saratoga. Snow highlights famous and obscure participants alike, from the brave but now notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold to Frederika von Riedesel, the wife of a British major general who later wrote an important eyewitness account of the battles. The author, an archaeologist who excavated on the Saratoga battlefield, combines a vivid sense of time and place--with details on weather, terrain, and technology--and a keen understanding of the adversaries'' motivations, challenges, and heroism into a suspenseful, novel-like account. A must-read for anyone with an interest in American history, 1777 is an intimate retelling of the campaign that tipped the balance in the American War of Independence.Trade Review... Snow has done a masterful job bringing together voices from across the battlefield, chronicling a pivotal moment in [America's] founding. * Doug Macgregor, Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies *Altogether 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga is an excellent account of the battle that arguably insured American independence by encouraging French intervention, and worth a read by anyone with an interest in the Revolutionary War. * A. A. Nofi, Strategy Page *An exceptionally detailed narrative, following events day by day and, as the action intensifies, hour by hour. This chronological structure has the merit of making sense of a campaign for which the evidence is often complex and contradictory. The result is a vivid, almost novelistic, account. * Wall Street Journal *[Dean Snow's] profiles of protagonists... bring the battle to life. * The New York Times *As the action builds and the characters come into focus, readers will get caught up in their hopes and frustrations…. Military history lovers will appreciate Snow's explanations of how battles are fought. * Kirkus Reviews *In his latest book, Snow takes a magnifying glass to the Saratoga campaign.... [He] presents Horatio Gates and John Burgoyne not as competing chess players but as complex individuals immersed in a larger group of individuals who struggle with social politics, ambiguous authority structures, and subordinates with mixed motives and loyalties.... Snow's narrative keeps readers engaged, start to finish. * Library Journal *An easy-reading and well-structured look at the battles that produced the British defeat. * Washington Free Beacon *Dean Snow's narrative is a faithful and meticulous chronicle, ably interweaving a rich tapestry of first-hand accounts with detailed descriptions of the battle's geography, planning and execution. What follows is a panoramic of the issues, personalities and events that culminated in the great American victory of the early Revolution. * Jack Tracey, History *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: The Opening Chapter 2: The Battle of Freeman's Farm Chapter 3: The Middle Game Chapter 4: The Battle of Bemis Heights Chapter 5: The End Game Epilogue Bibliography Index

    Out of stock

    £15.99

  • Who Owned Waterloo Battle Memory and Myth in

    Oxford University Press Who Owned Waterloo Battle Memory and Myth in

    Book SynopsisAfter the Battle of Waterloo, Britain actively incorporated the victory into their national identity. Who Owned Waterloo? demonstrates that Waterloo's significance to Britain's national psyche resulted in a different battle: one in which civilian and military groups fought to establish claims on different aspects of the battle and its remembrance.Trade ReviewWho owned Waterloo? covers a great deal of ground in a relatively short space and without ever feeling too compressed. Reynolds writes very well: his prose is lively and free of jargon, so that this is a monograph which can be read for pleasure as well as information. He shows great skill in selecting examples to explore in detail, while never losing sight of the wider picture, and his judgment is confident and convincing. This is an important book which explains a great deal about the way that memories of Waterloo contributed to Britain's understanding of her place in the world in the decades following the battle, and, by implication, how other countries in other times shape their own self-image. * Rory Muir, Napoleonica® the journal *In this compelling account of cultural appropriation, Luke Reynolds examines the many ways - from public commemorations to battlefield tourism and theatrical productions - by which nineteenth-century Britain claimed the memory of Waterloo as its own as it sought to turn Wellington's victory in the battle into a central plank of British identity. * Alan Forrest, Emeritus Professor of History, University of York *Narrated in a lively, engaging style, with a sure-handed mastery of its sources, Who Owned Waterloo? marks the debut of an historian of exceptional promise. Luke Reynolds documents an astonishing array of Waterloo tributes and mementoes, making us comprehend how deeply the battlefield victory shaped the British psyche and polity for more than a generation. Not just an important work of history, but a vastly entertaining one. * Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Alexander Hamilton and Washington: A Life *This fascinating, thoroughly documented colourful cultural history reveals how, through an army of entrepreneurs and impresarios, civilian Britain embraced and reinvented the military victory at Waterloo. From veterans' memoirs, battlefield tourism and relic exhibitions to spectacular re-enactments, the art of celebration, monuments and merchandise, Waterloo mania and the cult of Wellington forged popular legends that bolstered the self-image of imperial Britain. Beyond a name for rebranded pubs, hotels, squares and terraces, the battle of Waterloo still rages on, in myths that underpin a proud nation's collective identity today. * Julius Bryant, Keeper Emeritus of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Former Director of Museums and Collections at English Heritage, and Director of Apsley House *Engagingly written, convincingly argued, and laden with valuable insights on Waterloo's legacy, Who Owned Waterloo is an emphatic indication that Reynolds is one to watch in the world of Napoleonic history * Dr Zack White, Host of the Napoleonic Wars Podcast *Reynolds' enthusiasm for his subject is infectious, and his analysis of the variant ways in which Waterloo was commemorated is intelligent. Although no one man or group could truly claim ownership over Waterloo, during Wellington's lifetime cultural ownership of the battle shifted and spread, and by the time of his death, Reynolds shows us, it had become a truly national phenomenon. * Máire Macneill, British Journal for Military History *In conclusion, Luke Reynolds has written a notable work...that delves into the historical memory of the symbol that was Waterloo. This author has made a far-ranging contribution to studies of the history of public memory, a less-developed field in 19th century history. * Alberto Cañas de Pablos, Historia y Política *Who Owned Waterloo? is highly recommended to those with an interest in Waterloo, British history, and identity, but also for anyone interested in the fascinating process of how collective cultural memories are constructed. * George Satterfield, Journal of Military History *Table of ContentsIntroduction: 'The Ever-Memorable Battle of Waterloo' 1: 'The most uncomfortable heap of glory that I ever had a hand in': Histories and Memoirs 2: 'The great English pilgrimage': Battlefield Tourism, Relics, and Ownership of the Field 3: 'Demonstrations of true British feeling and exultation': Annual Commemorations 4: 'The fullest instruction on a subject so illustrious': Exhibitions 5: 'Grand Military and National Spectacle': Waterloo on Stage and Canvas 6: 'To commemorate the English character': Monuments and Material Culture Epilogue: 'The last great Englishman is low': The Funeral of the Duke of Wellington Appendix: Military Plays and Hippodramas before and after Waterloo

    £89.77

  • Who Owned Waterloo

    Oxford University Press Who Owned Waterloo

    Book SynopsisBetween 1815 and the Duke of Wellington''s death in 1852, the Battle of Waterloo became much more than simply a military victory. While other countries marked the battle and its anniversary, only Britain actively incorporated the victory into their national identity, guaranteeing that it would become a ubiquitous and multi-layered presence in British culture. By examining various forms of commemoration, celebration, and recreation, Who Owned Waterloo? demonstrates that Waterloo''s significance to Britain''s national psyche resulted in a different kind of war altogether: one in which civilian and military groups fought over and established their own claims on different aspects of the battle and its remembrance. By weaponizing everything from memoirs, monuments, rituals, and relics to hippodramas, panoramas, and even shades of blue, veterans pushed back against civilian claims of ownership; English, Scottish, and Irish interests staked their claims; and conservatives and radicals duelledTrade ReviewWho owned Waterloo? covers a great deal of ground in a relatively short space and without ever feeling too compressed. Reynolds writes very well: his prose is lively and free of jargon, so that this is a monograph which can be read for pleasure as well as information. He shows great skill in selecting examples to explore in detail, while never losing sight of the wider picture, and his judgment is confident and convincing. This is an important book which explains a great deal about the way that memories of Waterloo contributed to Britain's understanding of her place in the world in the decades following the battle, and, by implication, how other countries in other times shape their own self-image. * Rory Muir, Napoleonica® the journal *In this compelling account of cultural appropriation, Luke Reynolds examines the many ways - from public commemorations to battlefield tourism and theatrical productions - by which nineteenth-century Britain claimed the memory of Waterloo as its own as it sought to turn Wellington's victory in the battle into a central plank of British identity. * Alan Forrest, Emeritus Professor of History, University of York *Narrated in a lively, engaging style, with a sure-handed mastery of its sources, Who Owned Waterloo? marks the debut of an historian of exceptional promise. Luke Reynolds documents an astonishing array of Waterloo tributes and mementoes, making us comprehend how deeply the battlefield victory shaped the British psyche and polity for more than a generation. Not just an important work of history, but a vastly entertaining one. * Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Alexander Hamilton and Washington: A Life *This fascinating, thoroughly documented colourful cultural history reveals how, through an army of entrepreneurs and impresarios, civilian Britain embraced and reinvented the military victory at Waterloo. From veterans' memoirs, battlefield tourism and relic exhibitions to spectacular re-enactments, the art of celebration, monuments and merchandise, Waterloo mania and the cult of Wellington forged popular legends that bolstered the self-image of imperial Britain. Beyond a name for rebranded pubs, hotels, squares and terraces, the battle of Waterloo still rages on, in myths that underpin a proud nation's collective identity today. * Julius Bryant, Keeper Emeritus of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Former Director of Museums and Collections at English Heritage, and Director of Apsley House *Engagingly written, convincingly argued, and laden with valuable insights on Waterloo's legacy, Who Owned Waterloo is an emphatic indication that Reynolds is one to watch in the world of Napoleonic history * Dr Zack White, Host of the Napoleonic Wars Podcast *Reynolds' enthusiasm for his subject is infectious, and his analysis of the variant ways in which Waterloo was commemorated is intelligent. Although no one man or group could truly claim ownership over Waterloo, during Wellington's lifetime cultural ownership of the battle shifted and spread, and by the time of his death, Reynolds shows us, it had become a truly national phenomenon. * Máire Macneill, British Journal for Military History *In conclusion, Luke Reynolds has written a notable work...that delves into the historical memory of the symbol that was Waterloo. This author has made a far-ranging contribution to studies of the history of public memory, a less-developed field in 19th century history. * Alberto Cañas de Pablos, Historia y Política *Who Owned Waterloo? is highly recommended to those with an interest in Waterloo, British history, and identity, but also for anyone interested in the fascinating process of how collective cultural memories are constructed. * George Satterfield, Journal of Military History *Table of ContentsIntroduction: 'The Ever-Memorable Battle of Waterloo' 1: 'The most uncomfortable heap of glory that I ever had a hand in': Histories and Memoirs 2: 'The great English pilgrimage': Battlefield Tourism, Relics, and Ownership of the Field 3: 'Demonstrations of true British feeling and exultation': Annual Commemorations 4: 'The fullest instruction on a subject so illustrious': Exhibitions 5: 'Grand Military and National Spectacle': Waterloo on Stage and Canvas 6: 'To commemorate the English character': Monuments and Material Culture Epilogue: 'The last great Englishman is low': The Funeral of the Duke of Wellington Appendix: Military Plays and Hippodramas before and after Waterloo

    £24.99

  • The Compleat Victory

    Oxford University Press Inc The Compleat Victory

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe Compleat Victory is a suitable book for upper-division history courses on the American Revolution as well as military history buffs looking for a page-turner on an important campaign that played a significant role in achieving the independence of the United States. * Matthew Vajda, Kent State University *The Compleat Victory promises to become a classic account of Saratoga, which Kevin Weddle describes as not merely a battlefield defeat but 'a strategic, operational, and tactical catastrophe' for the British. With a balanced critique of the leadership on both sides and meticulously researched, this interpretation is of particular interest for being written by a former soldier, who served in two combat deployments, in addition to teaching at West Point and the U.S. Army War College, during which he led staff rides to Saratoga. * Andrew J. O'Shaughnessy, author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire *A significant contribution to the military history of the Revolutionary War. * Kirkus Reviews *The fullest, most accurate, and most readable account of this most decisive battle of the Revolutionary War. * Gordon Wood, author of Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 and Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson *A gripping account of a campaign that was crucial in the struggle for American independence. Weddle ably explains both how the Patriots won and how the British lost, teasing out the interactions and offering an explanation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. * Jeremy Black, author of Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519-1871 *Kevin Weddle's account of the Saratoga campaign offers a thoughtful and detailed analysis of the strategy, leadership, and tactics of a turning point in the American Revolution. In addition to telling a fine story, he illuminates the motives, decisions, and actions of the principal characters, including the ambitious and pompous John Burgoyne, the aloof and fatalistic Philip Schuyler, the militarily able and politically devious Horatio Gates, and the brilliant and mercurial Benedict Arnold. * Craig L. Symonds, author of The Battle of Midway *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Opening Moves Chapter 2: The First Invasion Chapter 3: A New British Strategy Chapter 4: A Question of American Command Chapter 5: Laying the Groundwork Chapter 6: The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga Chapter 7: Defeat, Retreat, Disgrace Chapter 8: Aftershocks Chapter 9: Burgoyne Moves South Chapter 10: The Ordeal of Philip Schuyler Chapter 11: The Murder of Jane McCrea Chapter 12: Not to Make a Ticonderoga of It Chapter 13: Oriskany and Relief Chapter 14: Cat and Mouse Chapter 15: Burgoyne's Dilemma Chapter 16: The Battle of Bennington Chapter 17: Gates takes Command Chapter 18: The Battle of Freeman's Farm Chapter 19: Sir Henry Clinton to the Rescue Chapter 20: The Battle of Bemis Heights Chapter 21: Retreat, Pursuit, and Surrender Chapter 22: British Reassessment Chapter 23: The Fruits of Victory Conclusion: Strategy and Leadership

    Out of stock

    £30.87

  • Taming Democracy

    Oxford University Press Taming Democracy

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisAmericans are fond of reflecting upon the Founding Fathers as selfless patriots who came together to force out the tyranny of the British and bring democracy to the land. Unfortunately, as Terry Bouton shows in this highly provocative first book, the Revolutionary elite often seemed as determined to squash democracy after the War of Independence as they were to support it before the conflict. Centering on Pennsylvania, the symbolic center of the story of democracy''s rise during the Revolution, Bouton shows how this radical shift in ideology spelled tragedy for thousands of common people. Leading up to the Revolution, most Pennsylvanians were united in their opinion that the people (i.e. white men) should be given access to the political system, and that some degree of wealth equality was required to ensure that political freedom prevailed. As the war ended, Pennsylvania''s elites began abandoning these ideas and instead embraced a new vision of the Revolution where government worked tTrade ReviewThis is a rare book - scholarly yet written with verve, readable for pleasure as well as for knowledge. * Publishers Weekly *In thoughtful, readable prose Terry Bouton shows us what the American Revolution meant for one group who counted: the small-scale farmers of Pennsylvania. They struggled; they thought; they fought. Ultimately they lost what they believed what they had won, a world that would be good for them and their families. The Revolution belonged to Bouton's kind of people, ordinary Americans living through an extraordinary time, as much as it did to the Founding Fathers. * Edward Countryman, author of The American Revolution *For many ordinary Americans living in Pennsylvania, the Revolution did not turn out as they had hoped. Committed to the creation of a more egalitarian society, they resisted British rule, only to discover that the rich and well-born had no interest in supporting serious democratic reform. In this compelling study, Bouton brings passion and insight to the bittersweet story of the betrayal of a truly revolutionary society. * T.H. Breen, Director, Center for Historical Studies, Northwestern University *The whiskey rebellion clearly has been misnamed: Bouton argues convincingly that it grew out of two decades of struggles by Pennsylvania's farmers with moneyed men for the fruits of the Revolution. He tells their story in gripping scenes of the sheriff's wagon carting off the belongings of debtors and of farmers defiantly closing down roads. This is a book about the Revolution that breaks new ground. * Alfred Young, author of Liberty Tree: Ordinary People and the American Revolution *Prominent citizens like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton considered the American Revolution an unruly steed, and they devoted considerable energy to reining it in. Terry Boutons superbly-written account of how they achieved that feat leaves us wishing they had failed. The focus of Boutons startlingly-original book is nothing less than the struggle for the soul of America. * Woody Holton, University of Richmond *Taming Democracy will have a major impact on early American historians and further the re-evaluation of the entire Revolutionary period. Boutons book will revitalize the economic interpretation of the era. * Allan Kulikoff, University of Georgia *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; PART ONE: THE RISE OF DEMOCRACY (1763-1776) ; PART TWO: CONFRONTING THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION (1776-1787) ; PART THREE: TAMING DEMOCRACY (1787-1799) ; CONCLUSION

    15 in stock

    £25.92

  • The Rise and Fall of the American Century The

    Oxford University Press The Rise and Fall of the American Century The

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom William H. Chafe, the best-selling author of The Unfinished Journey, comes a new text that offers in-depth and enlightening coverage of the history of the United States in the twentieth century. The Rise and Fall of the American Century: The United States from 1890-2010 describes the rise--and potential fall--of the U.S., a nation more powerful, more wealthy, and more dominant than any in human history. It also acknowledges the persistent challenges the U.S. has faced and continues to face--inequalities of race, gender, and income that contradict its vision of itself as a land of opportunity. Examining the evolution of the United States since 1890, The Rise and Fall of the American Century chronicles the varying mood of the country through its changing presidencies, from the rise of the metropolis and Teddy Roosevelt in the 1890s to the turbulent era of the Bush administration at the beginning of the twenty-first century. By analyzing the shifting moods and social and political upheavals (both at home and abroad) and the United States''s reactions to these events, the book seeks to understand how the country both achieved its vision for itself in some ways but failed to realize it in others. Working in a political framework, Chafe also provides a strong balance of social and cultural history, touching on the African-American, Latino, and Asian communities, the West, and the changing status of women. The book''s epilogue discusses important economic and political events through 2008, including the financial crisis and the 2008 Presidential Election.Trade ReviewWithout question Chafe is a master narrative historian able to weave together multiple histories into one compelling drama of struggle * of competing ideas, values, and visions of what made the American century 'American.' Chafe knows how to write history as drama in the best sense of that word. I couldn't put it down. Students will not find this kind of writing on Wikipedia."-Neil Foley, University of Texas, and author of The White Scourge *The Rise and Fall of the American Century is an excellent work that touches upon practically all of the major themes and issues of twentieth-century American history with authorial conviction. Perhaps its greatest strength is the author's ability to humanize presidents, the presidency, and presidential politics. The writing is beyond impressive and will capture and hold the attention of college students. * Hasan Kwame Jeffries, The Ohio State University *In this unflinching examination of the United States over the last century, one of the nation's foremost historians traces the nation's rise to power and its disastrous recent decline. William H. Chafe illuminates the national story with keen insight, elegant prose, and powerful analysis. * Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era *One of this country's most distinguished historians, Bill Chafe is at the top of his game as he examines the complexities and paradoxes of American life in this remarkable book. * John Dittmer, author of Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi *Table of Contents1. Introduction: The 1890s, a Preview of the Next Century ; 2. The Dawn of Progressivism ; 3. America and the World ; 4. The Roaring (?) Twenties ; 5. FDR and the New Deal ; 6. World War II: 1941-1945 ; 7. The Cold War and the Politics of Anti-Communism: 1945-52 ; 8. Ike and the Affluent Society: An Age of Contradictions ; 9. From Camelot to Fragmentation: The 1960s ; 10. Polarization, Paranoia, and a New Conservatism: America in the 1970s ; 11. Morning in America: Ronald Regan ; 12. The End of One War, the Start of Another: Politics, Culture, and the Specter of Terrorism in the 1990s ; 13. The End of the American Century? The First Decade of the New Millennium

    1 in stock

    £103.54

  • Heir through Hope

    Oxford University Press Inc Heir through Hope

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe relationship between Thomas Jefferson and William Short, the eldest son of an established Virginia family and relative of Martha Jefferson, began as a patron-protégé arrangement conventional for the era. Jefferson encouraged Short''s legal career and gave him his first legal work. Thus began a bond of forty years that that both men characterized in paternal and filial terms and that sheds considerable light on the enigmatic Founding Father.In the aftermath of Jefferson''s precipitous flight from Monticello, Short underwrote substantial short-term loans to him. Jefferson took the younger man to France as his private secretary in 1784 but, quickly concluding that his moral well-being and political judgment were at risk, he urged Short to return to America and settle down. Short, however, wished to pursue a foreign service career and a long affair with a French aristocrat. Jefferson wanted Short to embrace a Virginia way of looking at the world, even buying him a farm near Monticello.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Translation and Nomenclature Introduction: An Unfulfilled Patriarch Chapter 1: Springs Set in Motion: Establishing Separate Lives in France Chapter 2: Living in a Woman's Country: Jefferson and Short's Reflections on French Culture Chapter 3: "A Poor Dry Business": William Short's Diplomatic Career Chapter 4: The Earth Half Desolated: Reckoning with Terror Chapter 5: "You are my husband": Rosalie de La Rochefoucauld and William Short Chapter 6: Money, Slaves, and Land: Jefferson's Ties to William Short Chapter 7: A Serpent's Tooth: William Short's Later Life Relationship with Jefferson Epilogue: Jefferson's Hopes, and Short's Fears Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £22.99

  • The Gaelic and Indian Origins of the American

    Oxford University Press Inc The Gaelic and Indian Origins of the American

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisHow did an unlikely group of peoples--Irish-speaking Catholics, Scottish Highlanders, and American Indians--play an even unlikelier role in the origins of the American Revolution?Drawing on little-used sources in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, The Gaelic and Indian Origins of the American Revolution places these typically marginalized peoples in Ireland, Scotland, and North America at the center of a larger drama of imperial reform and revolution. Gaelic and Indian peoples experiencing colonization in the eighteenth-century British empire fought back by building relationships with the king and imperial officials. In doing so, they created a more inclusive empire and triggered conflict between the imperial state and formerly privileged provincial Britons: Irish Protestants, Scottish whigs, and American colonists. The American Revolution was only one aspect of this larger conflict between inclusive empire and the exclusionary patriots within the British empire. In fact, Britons had argued abTrade ReviewThis book is an historical tour de force. With a wonderful comparative focus on indigenous nations of North America and Scottish and Irish Gaels, Samuel Fisher has not only provided fresh perspectives on the American Revolution but also on the transatlantic movement of peoples from the British Isles in the eighteenth century. * Sir Tom Devine, University of Edinburgh *In 1776, the British Empire was a diverse, multinational dominion, but it was also a dominion run by — and almost exclusively for the benefit of — British, Irish, and Anglo-American Protestants. In this important, wide-ranging book, Samuel K. Fisher shows how unresolved questions over the place of Irish Catholics and Native Americans within Britain's eighteenth-century empire helped drive the conflicts that tore that empire apart. The result is a new and compelling account of the American Revolution's origins. * Eliga Gould, author of Among the Powers of the Earth: The American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire *Samuel Fisher looks to British, rather than purely English, history to explain why the elite in thirteen of Britain's American colonies decided suddenly in the 1770s that the imperial government had become oppressive and must be rejected. In this provocative and timely book, Fisher demonstrates how the attempt by George III to include Native Americans within his empire proved as offensive to 'exclusionary patriots' as had the actions of James II in treating Scottish Highlanders and Irish Catholics as equals with his Protestant subjects in the three kingdoms. * Nicholas Canny, National University of Ireland, Galway *With a long view and an Atlantic perspective, Samuel Fisher explains how Irish Catholics, Scottish Highlanders, and American Indians reshaped the British Empire, and in doing so helped bring about the American Revolution. Thoughtfully and systematically considering empire, revolution, and nation-building in terms of inclusion and exclusion, this book challenges easy assumptions about tyranny and freedom in the eighteenth century and about the kind of society American revolutionaries created. * Colin G. Calloway, author of White People, Indians, and Highlanders: Tribal Peoples and Colonial Encounters in Scotland and America *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Translation and Terminology Introduction Part I: Exclusionary Constitution Chapter 1: The Unlikely Alliance: Origins of Inclusive Empire Chapter 2: Fit Instruments I: Origins of the Exclusionary Patriots Chapter 3: Lockhart's Question: Creating the Exclusionary Constitution Part II: Atlantic '45 Chapter 4: The French Connection: Resisting the Exclusionary Constitution from Without Chapter 5: Imperial Go-Betweens: Resisting the Exclusionary Constitution from Within Chapter 6: Atlantic '45: Breaking the Exclusionary Constitution Part III: Inclusive Empire Chapter 7: Reform: Reviving the Inclusive Empire Chapter 8: The Tender Father with Shit-Stained Britches: Contradictions of the Inclusive Empire Chapter 9: Interest and Economy: Debating the Inclusive Empire Chapter 10: King George Will Have Us All: Making the Inclusive Empire Part IV: Exclusionary Patriots Chapter 11: Fit Instruments II: Return of the Exclusionary Patriots Chapter 12: Dilemmas of Dependence: Exclusion and Exceptionalism Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

    Out of stock

    £46.70

  • Madisons Militia The Hidden History of the Second

    Oxford University Press Inc Madisons Militia The Hidden History of the Second

    Book SynopsisIn Madison's Militia, Carl Bogus illuminates precisely why James Madison and the First Congress included the right to bear arms in the Bill of Rights--and the reason will surprise readers. This gripping and wide-ranging history overturns the conventional wisdom about the Second Amendment--showing that the right to bear arms was not about protecting liberty but about preserving slavery.Trade ReviewA vital reconsideration of a contentious constitutional amendment. * Publishers Weekly *Readers interested in the Second Amendment's origins or in assessing arguments about its meaning will likely and deeply appreciate this comprehensive history. * Library Journal *At a time when the Supreme Court is increasingly looking at the original meaning in interpreting the Constitution, Professor Carl Bogus has written a riveting account of how the Second Amendment actually came to be added to the Constitution. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Professor Bogus shows that the Second Amendment was meant to protect the slave system and keep Congress from disarming slave patrols. This is an essential history for all lawyers, judges, students, and individuals who are researching the original understanding of the Second Amendment and gun rights. * Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law *A surprisingly fast-paced account of the events leading up to the Second Amendment. Bogus persuasively suggests that, while Madison and other Founders paid lip-service to the dedication of militias and the threat of standing armies, their primary concern was to suppress insurrections by the people they enslaved. Madison's Militia undermines any claim by the Roberts Court/the Supreme Court to locate the individual right to bear arms in an originalist reading of the Constitution. * Jeannine DeLombard, author of In the Shadow of the Gallows: Race, Crime, and American Civic Identity *Bogus offers a fresh and fearless investigation into why Madison and his contemporaries added the right to keep and bear arms to the Constitution. Uncluttered by myth or hagiography, this book will likely become the definitive account of the darker side of the Second Amendment's drafting and ratification. * Darrell A.H. Miller, Duke Law School *Carl Bogus makes an important contribution to efforts to discern the meaning of the 27 words that make up the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Bogus' work provides a rich context to understand what those who drafted and debated the amendment faced, as well as what they hoped to accomplish. Bogus invites readers to reconsider the racially neutral right to bear arms that the amendment protects in light of the immediate racialized threat of uprisings and rebellions by enslaved people against their enslavers. His book offers a radically different way to read and understand the amendment which aligns with, rather than revises, the history surrounding its ratification. * Lisa A. Crooms-Robinson, Professor, Howard University School of Law *Slavery was the main event—not a sideshow—as the U.S. was founded. In this insightful, crisply written book Carl Bogus tells us that what impelled the now infamous Second Amendment was precisely the rampant fear of slave insurrections, necessitating the formation of a well-armed militia. * Gerald Horne, author, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America *Madison's Militia offers an illuminating overview of the tangled history of the Second Amendment and its 'right to bear arms.' Whatever the limitations of citizen militias in actually fighting wars, they were indispensable in Virginia and other states worried about suppressing any slave rebellions and about the possibility that the new national government would prove insufficiently protective of slavery. American historians are increasingly studying the intersections of slavery and a desire to maintain white supremacy, and Bogus provides a valuable, extremely well-written, demonstration of those intersections. * Sanford Levinson, University of Texas Law School and author of Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Showdown in Richmond Chapter Two: Debate in Richmond Chapter Three: Decision in Richmond Chapter Four: Southern Terror Chapter Five: The Militia--War in the North Chapter Six: The Militia--War in the South Chapter Seven: Mr. Madison Goes to Congress Chapter Eight: The Ghost of Patrick Henry Chapter Nine: The English Declaration of Rights of 1689 Chapter Ten: Chimeras of Liberty Conclusion Author's Note Notes Index

    £23.27

  • Thomas Hobbes

    Oxford University Press Thomas Hobbes

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisBehemoth is Thomas Hobbes''s narrative of the English Civil Wars from the beginning of the Scottish revolution in 1637 to the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, and is his only composition to address directly the history of the events which formed the context of his writings in Leviathan and elsewhere on sovereignty and the government of the Church. Although presented as an account of past events, it conceals a vigorous attack on the values of the religious and political establishment of Restoration England. This is the first fully scholarly edition of the work, and the first new edition of the text since 1889. Based on Hobbes''s own presentation manuscript, it includes for the first time an accurate transcription of the passages which Hobbes had deleted in the text, and notes made by early readers.Trade Review[Seaward's] edition compares to the standard Töennies edition rather as a colour television compares to black and white ... Seaward's Behemoth fulfils the promise of the Clarendon series - under Noel Malcolm's leadership - to give readers the scholarly editions which the texts deserve. * Deborah Baumgold, English Historical Review *Paul Seaward has produced a major piece of scholarship ... to those who have been captivated by this multi-faceted book for a long time, it comes as a blessing. * Luc Borot, Hobbes Studies *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations ; List of Illustrations ; General Introduction ; Textual Introduction ; 1. To the Right Honourable Sr. Henry Bennet Baron of Arlington ; 2. First Dialogue ; 3. Second Dialogue ; 4. Third Dialogue ; 5. Fourth Dialogue ; Register of variants ; Appendix: Readers' notes in early copies of Behemoth

    15 in stock

    £132.75

  • Turncoats and Renegadoes Changing Sides during the English Civil Wars

    Oxford University Press Turncoats and Renegadoes Changing Sides during the English Civil Wars

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTurncoats and Renegadoes is the first dedicated study of the practice of changing sides during the English Civil Wars. It examines the extent and significance of side-changing in England and Wales but also includes comparative material from Scotland and Ireland. The first half identifies side-changers among peers, MPs, army officers, and common soldiers, before reconstructing the chronological and regional patterns to their defections. The second half delivers a cultural history of treachery, by adopting a thematic approach to explore the social and cultural implications of defections, and demonstrating how notions of what constituted a turncoat were culturally constructed. Side-changing came to dominate strategy on both sides at the highest levels. Both sides reviled, yet sought to take advantage of the practice, whilst allegations of treachery came to dominate the internal politics of royalists and parliamentarians alike. The language applied to ''turncoats and renegadoes'' in contemTrade ReviewBased on impressive and wide-ranging research in national and local archives in the United Kingdom and in the Folger and Yale University Libraries in the United States, this is the first full-length study of its subject and its significance for the course, and ultimate outcome, of the English Revolution. * R.C. Richardson, Clio *a thoroughly researched study of changing sides during the Civil Wars. ... a very original and stimulating study. * Northern History *Hoppers thoughtful book is a useful addition to those crowded student reading lists, but it needs to be read beside other studies. * Anthony Fletcher, The Journal of the Historical Association, *Hopper's book provides a very useful examination of the choosing of sides in the first place. ... We owe Hopper a great deal for bringing their justifications before us in so well analysed a manner. * Martyn Bennet, War in History *a significant and lively contribution * Ronald Hutton, English Historical Review *Table of ContentsPART I: A PROFILE OF SIDE-CHANGING IN ENGLAND AND WALES, 1642-1646 ; PART II: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF SIDE-CHANGING

    1 in stock

    £45.49

  • The Common Freedom of the People

    Oxford University Press The Common Freedom of the People

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe second son of a modest gentry family, John Lilburne was accused of treason four times, and put on trial for his life under both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. He fought bravely in the Civil War, seeing action at a number of key battles and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, was shot through the arm, and nearly lost an eye in a pike accident. In the course of all this, he fought important legal battles for the rights to remain silent, to open trial, and to trial by his peers. He was twice acquitted by juries in very public trials, but nonetheless spent the bulk of his adult life in prison or exile. He is best known, however, as the most prominent of the Levellers, who campaigned for a government based on popular sovereignty two centuries before the advent of mass representative democracies in Europe.Michael Braddick explores the extraordinary and dramatic life of ''Freeborn John'': how his experience of political activism sharpened and clarified his ideas, leading him to artiTrade ReviewThis is a first rate historical work that transcends its biographical framework and successfully draws readers into the larger political, religious, and intellectual issues of the English Revolution. * Gary S. De Krey, Journal of Modern History *Braddick's "political life" of Lilburne is...well worth reading. * Jon Fitzgibbons, The Seventeenth Century *Braddick presents Lilburne as an activist rather than a political thinker, as primarily concerned with tactics and political mobilization. Lilburne's ideas are interesting but, his real significance and legacy - Braddick suggests - are in the realm of political practice * Rachel Hammersley, The Times Literary Supplement *[The Common Freedom of the People] is a triumph of sympathetic biographical writing, without succumbing to the biographer's trap of sticking up for everything his subject did or stood for. * David Horspool, The Spectator *[An] excellent new biography ... Braddick is able to introduce the reader very succinctly and clearly to the wider context in which Lilburne's ideas were formed. This is no mean feat given the complexity and rapidity of the political changes of the period. * Edward Vallance, Literary Review *Clear and accessible, wise and measured ... The Common Freedom of the People is an important book. * Kwasi Kwarteng, The Sunday Times *[A] commanding and enlivening new biography. * Blair Worden, London Review of Books *Braddick provides a richly analysed context for Lilburne's public battles against the misuse of power. Yet, while admiring Lilburne's personal conviction and courage, Braddick rightly warns against seeing him as a modern reformer ... he depicts Lilburne as a man of principle, willing to sacrifice family life to battle justice for the greater good of England. * Jackie Eales, History Today *This political life [provides] a vivid portrait of both the man and his age. * Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education *Braddick tells the story of Lilburnes struggles expertly, fluently and well. Lilburnes life was truly action-packed but Braddick resists the temptation to sensationalise. * Russell Harris QC, Counsel *John Lilburme was a polemicist and martyr unafraid to speak truth to power. Michael Braddick's masterly political biography offers an exciting new reading of the significance of his career as a political activist, and of his lasting legacy on both sides of the Atlantic. * John Walter, Emeritus Professor, University of Essex *A comprehensive political life [of Lilburne] by one of this generations most distinguished and productive historians of the English Revolution... meticulously researched and unlikely to be exceeded in its recovery of many aspects of Lilburne's life... * J.C. Davis, Journal of the Northern Renaissance *Table of ContentsPreface1: Apprentice, 1632-16402: Soldier, 1640-16453: Partisan, 1645-16464: Leveller, 1647-16495: Traitor, 16496: Citizen, 1649-16527: Exile, 1653-16578: John Lilburne and the English RevolutionNotesIndex

    1 in stock

    £26.77

  • Charles Is Killers in America

    Oxford University Press Charles Is Killers in America

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the British monarchy was restored in 1660, King Charles II was faced with the conundrum of what to with those who had been involved in the execution of his father eleven years earlier. Facing a grisly fate at the gallows, some of the men who had signed Charles I''s death warrant fled to America. Charles I''s Killers in America traces the gripping story of two of these men-Edward Whalley and William Goffe-and their lives in America, from their welcome in New England until their deaths there. With fascinating insights into the governance of the American colonies in the seventeenth century, and how a network of colonists protected the regicides, Matthew Jenkinson overturns the enduring theory that Charles II unrelentingly sought revenge for the murder of his father. Charles I''s Killers in America also illuminates the regicides'' afterlives, with conclusions that have far-reaching implications for our understanding of Anglo-American political and cultural relations. Novels, historiesTrade Review...well researched and well crafted * John Coffey, University of Leicester, Milton Quarterly *A delightful read * Colin Kidd, The Guardian *The book's forte is its careful analysis of the available material and the patient exposure of its frustrating inadequacies. * Andrew Taylor, The Times *Intriguing account. * Philip Terzian, The Wall Street Journal *Jenkinson's work ... offers a refreshing corrective to recent popular accounts, which have tended to rehearse the now familiar story of the dramatic pursuit of these 'king killers' across the wilds of New England by Royalist bounty hunters ... The picture presented by Jenkinson of the increasingly cloistered existence endured by two ageing revolutionaries wracked with spiritual doubt may make for poorer fiction but is certainly the stuff of excellent history. * Edward Vallance, Literary Review *Exhaustive research and penetrating analysis. * James Baresel, HistoryNet *A lively and engaging account of two of the regicides who fled to New England and how they subsequently came to be remembered and mythologized in eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century America. Drawing on a wide range of both historical and fictional sources (including novels, plays, and visual art), this fascinating study reveals the crucial role that the subsequent refashioning of the story of the regicides played in forging a nascent American national identity. * Tim Harris, Munro-Goodwin-Wilkinson Professor in European History, Brown University *Table of ContentsPART I: Lives 1: Introduction 2: Regicides on the Run I: Gravesend to Milford 3: Regicides on the Run II: Milford to Hartford PART II. Afterlives 4: Thomas Hutchinson and the Regicides' Rediscovery 5: Ezra Stiles, the Regicides, and the American Revolution 6: The Spirit of the Regicides, Liberty, and American National Identity 7: The Regicides' Revival, Rise, and Decline 8: Conclusion Appendix I - Dramatis Personaw Appendix II - Timeline of the Movements of Whalley and Goffe Appendix III - The Diary of William Goffe Appendix IV - The (Dis)appearance of John Dixwell Bibliography Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £19.00

  • Recollection in the Republics Memories of the

    Oxford University Press Recollection in the Republics Memories of the

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisFollowing the execution of Charles I in January 1649, England''s fledgling republic was faced with a dilemma: which parts of the nation''s bloody recent past should be remembered, and how, and which were best consigned to oblivion? Across the country, the state''s opponents, local communities, and individual citizens were grappling with many of the same questions, as calls for remembrance vied with the competing goals of reconciliation, security, and the peaceful settlement of the state. Recollection in the Republics provides the first comprehensive study of the ways Britain''s Civil Wars were remembered in the decade between the regicide and the restoration. Drawing on a wide-ranging and innovative source base, it places the national authorities'' attempts to shape the meaning of the recent past alongside evidence of what the English people - lords and labourers, men and women, veterans and civilians - actually were remembering. Recollection in the Replublics demonstrates that memories of the domestic conflicts were central to the politics and society of England''s republican interval, inflecting national and local discourses, complicating and transforming inter-personal relationships, and infusing and forging individual and collective identities. In so doing, it enhances our understanding of the nature of early modern memory and the experience of post-civil war states more broadly. Memory was a multifaceted, dynamic resource, and this book emphasises its fecundity, the manifold meanings it possessed, and the creativity of those who deployed it. Further, by situating 1650s England in relation to other post-conflict societies, both within and beyond early modernity, it points to a consistency in some of the challenges that have confronted post-civil war states across time and space.Trade Review... this book represents a very welcome addition to a burgeoning body of scholarship, to which Peck has already contributed with valuable articles and chapters. * Jason Peacey, University College London, Parliamentary History *Peck succeeds in writing the first comprehensive account of how the civil wars were remembered over the 1650s—a wonderful addition to the historiography of the period. * Waseem Ahmed, Journal of British Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Republican Recollections 2: Rival Recollections 3: Memories in Everyday Discourse 4: Places of Memory 5: Narratives of War Conclusion

    Out of stock

    £78.85

  • Armies and Political Change in Britain 16601750

    Oxford University Press Armies and Political Change in Britain 16601750

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisArmies and Political Change in Britain, 1660 -1750 argues that armies had a profound impact on the major political events of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Britain. Beginning with the controversial creation of a permanent army to protect the restored Stuart monarchy, this original and important study examines how armies defended or destroyed regimes during the Exclusion Crisis, Monmouth''s Rebellion, the Revolution of 1688-1689, and the Jacobite rebellions and plots of the post-1714 period, including the ''15 and ''45. Hannah Smith explores the political ideas of ''common soldiers'' and army officers and analyses their political engagements in a divisive, partisan world. The threat or hope of military intervention into politics preoccupied the era. Would a monarch employ the army to circumvent parliament and annihilate Protestantism? Might the army determine the succession to the throne? Could an ambitious general use armed force to achieve supreme political power? These questions troubled successive generations of men and women as the British army developed into a lasting and costly component of the state, and emerged as a highly successful fighting force during the War of the Spanish Succession. Armies and Political Change in Britain, 1660 - 1750 deploys an innovative periodization to explore significant continuities and developments across the reigns of seven monarchs spanning almost a century. Using a vivid and extensive array of archival, literary, and artistic material, the volume presents a striking new perspective on the political and military history of Britain.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: The Restoration of Crown and Church, 1660-1670 2: Popery, Arbitrary Government, and War, 1670-1678 3: The Disputed Succession, 1678-1685 4: Revolutions, 1685-1689 5: War and Peace, 1689-1702 6: The War of Succession, 1702-1714 7: Defending and Disputing the Rival Kings, 1714-1750 8: Oligarchy and Opposition, 1714-1750 Conclusion

    Out of stock

    £115.83

  • The History of the Rebellion A new selection

    Oxford University Press The History of the Rebellion A new selection

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis''I am doing your Majesty some service here, whilst I am preparing the story of your sufferings; that posterity may know by whose default the nation was even overwhelmed with calamities, and by whose virtue it was redeemed.''Clarendon''s massive History has since its first publication in 1702-4 dominated our images of the English Civil War. Written by a man who for over a quarter of a century was one of the closest advisers to Charles I and Charles II, it contains a remarkably frank account of the inadequacies of royalist policy-making as well as an astute analysis of the principles and practice of government. Clarendon chronicles in absorbing detail the factions and intrigues, the rise of Cromwell and the death of Charles I, the bloody battles and the eventual Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 after the Interregnum. He brings to life the key players in a series of brilliant character portraits, and his account is admired as much for its literary quality as its historical value. This

    3 in stock

    £13.29

  • The Letters Writings and Speeches of Oliver

    Oxford University Press The Letters Writings and Speeches of Oliver

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe most complete scholarly edition of the letters, writings and recorded speeches of Oliver Cromwell - MP, soldier, statesman, family man, passionate opponent of tyranny and supporter of religious liberty and equality, and also from his own time to now one of the most controversial figures in British history.Table of ContentsEditorial Conventions Abbreviations General Introduction to volumes 1-3 Introduction to Volume 3 Edited Texts List of omissions

    1 in stock

    £220.00

  • The Letters Writings and Speeches of Oliver

    Oxford University Press The Letters Writings and Speeches of Oliver

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe most complete scholarly edition of the letters, writings and recorded speeches of Oliver Cromwell - MP, soldier, statesman, family man, passionate opponent of tyranny and supporter of religious liberty and equality, and also from his own time to now one of the most controversial figures in British history.Table of ContentsEditorial Conventions Abbreviations General Introduction to volumes 1-3 Introduction to Volume 1 Edited Texts List of omissions

    2 in stock

    £220.00

  • The Letters Writings and Speeches of Oliver

    Oxford University Press The Letters Writings and Speeches of Oliver

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe most complete scholarly edition of the letters, writings and recorded speeches of Oliver Cromwell - MP, soldier, statesman, family man, passionate opponent of tyranny and supporter of religious liberty and equality, and also from his own time to now one of the most controversial figures in British history.Table of ContentsEditorial Conventions Abbreviations General Introduction to volumes 1-3 Introduction to Volume 2 Edited Texts List of omissions

    1 in stock

    £220.00

  • The Napoleonic Wars

    Oxford University Press The Napoleonic Wars

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThe Napoleonic Wars have an important place in the history of Europe, leaving their mark on European and world societies in a variety of ways. In many European countries they provided the stimulus for radical social and political change - particularly in Spain, Germany, and Italy - and are frequently viewed in these places as the starting point of their modern histories. In this Very Short Introduction, Mike Rapport provides a brief outline of the wars, introducing the tactics, strategies, and weaponry of the time. Presented in three parts, he considers the origins and course of the wars, the ways and means in which it was fought, and the social and political legacy it has left to the world today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Origins ; 2. Course ; 3. A revolutionary war ; 4. Soldiers and civilians ; 5. The war at sea ; 6. The people's war ; 7. Legacies ; References

    Out of stock

    £9.49

  • Waterloo Great Battles

    Oxford University Press Waterloo Great Battles

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe story of Waterloo, the battle that finally ended Napoleon's imperial dreams: how it was fought, how it has been remembered, and what it has come to mean.Trade ReviewAn essential book for understanding the complex national attitudes to the commemoration of Waterloo. * Chris May, Battlefield *A brilliant, even-handed short study * David Horspool, Books of the Year 2015, Guardian *A strikingly original analysis of responses to Waterloo and the memory of it. * History Today, Gary Sheffield *A fascinating read * The Good Book Guide *Lucid, measured and fascinating. * BBC History magazine, Tim Clayton *Alan Forrest offers a good discussion of the events leading up to the battle, and its subsequent ripples. * Victor Davis Hanson, Times Literary Supplement *Original, interesting and elegant To fail to read Waterloo would be quite unthinkable. * British Journal of Military History, Charles Esdaile *An excellent book * Literary Review, Saul David *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: The Genesis of the Waterloo Campaign 3: The Battle 4: The Return of Peace: First Responses to Waterloo 5: Eye-witness Accounts 6: Wellington, Waterloo, and British Identity 7: Waterloo and the Napoleonic Legend 8: Waterloo in German, Dutch and Belgian Memory Further Reading Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £12.99

  • The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution

    OUP USA The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution introduces scholars, students and generally interested readers to the formative event in American history. In thirty-three individual essays, by thirty-three authorities on the Revolution, the Handbook provides readers with in-depth analysis of the Revolution''s many sides, ranging from the military and diplomatic to the social and political; from the economic and financial, to the cultural and legal. Its cast of characters ranges far, including ordinary farmers and artisans, men and women, free and enslaved African Americans, Indians, and British and American statesmen and military leaders. Its geographic scope is equally broad. The Handbook offers readers an American Revolution whose geo-political and military impact ranged from the West Indies to the Mississippi Valley; from the British Isles to New England and from Nova Scotia to Florida. The American Revolution of the Handbook is, simply put, an event that far transcended the boundariTrade ReviewThis is a well-conceived and edited volume, and an excellent resource. * Andy Hamilton, British Journal for the History of Philosophy *Table of ContentsList of Maps ; Contributors ; Introduction: American Revolutions ; Edward G. Gray and Jane Kamensky ; Part I. Cultures and Crises ; Chapter 1. Britain's American Problem: The International Perspective ; P. J. Marshall ; Chapter 2. The Unsettled Periphery: The Backcountry on the Eve of the American Revolution ; William B. Hart ; Chapter 3. The Polite and the Plebian ; Michael Zuckerman ; Chapter 4. Political Protest and the World of Goods ; Laurel Thatcher Ulrich ; Chapter 5. The Imperial Crisis ; Craig B. Yirush ; Chapter 6. The Struggle Within: Colonial Politics on the Eve of Independence ; Michael A. McDonnell ; Chapter 7. The Democratic Moment: The Revolution and Popular Politics ; Ray Raphael ; Chapter 8. Independence before and during the Revolution ; Benjamin H. Irvin ; Part II. War ; Chapter 9. The Continental Army ; Caroline Cox ; Chapter 10. The British Army and the War of Independence ; Stephen Conway ; Chapter 11. The War in the Cities ; Mark A. Peterson ; Chapter 12. The War in the Countryside ; Allan Kulikoff ; Chapter 13. Native Peoples in the Revolutionary War ; Jane T. Merritt ; Chapter 14. The African Americans' Revolution ; Gary B. Nash ; Chapter 15. Women in the American Revolutionary War ; Sarah M. S. Pearsall ; Chapter 16. Loyalism ; Edward Larkin ; Chapter 17. The Revolutionary War and Europe's Great Powers ; Paul W. Mapp ; Chapter 18. Funding the Revolution: Monetary and Fiscal Policy in Eighteenth-Century America ; Stephen Mihm ; Part III. A Revolutionary Settlement ; Chapter 19. The Impact of the War on British Politics ; Harry T. Dickinson ; Chapter 20. The Trials of the Confederation ; Terry Bouton ; Chapter 21. A More Perfect Union: The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution ; Max M. Edling ; Chapter 22. The Evangelical Ascendancy in Revolutionary America ; Susan Juster ; Chapter 23. The Problems of Slavery ; Christopher Leslie Brown ; Chapter 24. Rights ; Eric Slauter ; Chapter 25. The Empire That Britain Kept ; Eliga H. Gould ; Part IV. New Orders ; Chapter 26. The American Revolution and a New National Politics ; Rosemarie Zagarri ; Chapter 27. Republican Art and Architecture ; Martha J. McNamara ; Chapter 28. Print Culture after the Revolution ; Catherine O'Donnell ; Chapter 29. Republican Law ; Christopher L. Tomlins ; Chapter 30. Discipline, Sex, and the Republican Self ; Clare A. Lyons ; Chapter 31. The Laboring Republic ; Graham Russell Gao Hodges ; Chapter 32. The Republic in the World, 1783-1803 ; J. M. Opal ; Chapter 33. America's Cultural Revolution in Transnational Perspective ; Leora Auslander ; Index

    15 in stock

    £147.25

  • As If an Enemys Country

    OUP USA As If an Enemys Country

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis"A lively and sympathetic history of pre-Revolutionary Boston under British occupation." The New YorkerA thrilling and original work of history, As If an Enemy's Country tells the riveting story of what made the Boston townspeople, and with them other colonists, turn toward revolution.Trade Review"Richard Archer's book is a remarkably fresh examination of the story of the British occupation of Boston in the years before the Revolution. Its close attention to the social and economic context of the dramatic events of those years gives the book much of its richness; and its telling of the events themselves, ending with a splendid account of the Boston Massacre, is accomplished with great clarity, detail, and verve. Altogether it is a fascinating book."--Robert Middlekauff, author of The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 "In ways that are familiar today when American forces occupy faraway lands, the British military occupation of Boston in October 1768 deeply radicalized the town's citizens. In this crisply written account, Richard Archer walks the reader through Boston's crooked streets and along the waterfront with such narrative verve that we can almost see, hear, and feel the seething tension that grew for seventeen months before the Boston Massacre. With his careful research and nose for telling detail, Archer allows us to understand why Boston led the colonies into independence."--Gary B. Nash, author of The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America "As If An Enemy's Country provides a long-overdue explanation of how the American Revolution began. Richard Archer has connected the dots in this extraordinarily well-written, concise, thorough and engaging account of the British occupation of Boston after 1768. Archer shows how the relationships between the Boston mob and the provincial elite, among merchants, trade, and religion in Boston's unique political culture turned rebellion into Revolution. An essential book--a fascinating story well-told."--Robert Allison, author of A Short History of Boston "Archer utilizes a wealth of primary sources, from diaries to depositions, to provide an edifying account of the 17-month British occupation of Boston from October 1768 to the winter of 1770. ... Beginning with British attempts to consolidate the empire and gain revenue from the Colonies in the form of innovative taxes and concluding with a perceptive analysis of the Boston Massacre, Archer astutely delves into the milieu of a Colonial city alive with mobs, patriots, and the omnipresent British army. The uniqueness of Archer's superbly crafted tale lies in his discussion of how the politics of nonimportation polarized the elite of Boston society on the eve of revolution. Combining engaging prose and a wealth of interesting characters, Archer has provided students and general enthusiasts alike with a concise, appealing work of first-rate scholarship."--Library Journal, starred review "Archer goes into [...] detail, drawing good portraits of several principals, including John Hancock and cousins John and Sam Adams."--Tampa Tribune "A gripping narrative of the occupation of Boston."--LAmag.com, The Reading List "[T]his is a serious historical analysis rich in details, primary sources, and the minutiae that make up our history. Excellent."--Sacramento Book Review "Archer has done a great job describing Boston, the tension in the people, and the way the tragedy unfolds. ... I recommend [his book] to anyone interested in the events leading up to the American Revolution."--1776mag.com "In a fresh look at the Boston Massacre, Richard Archer searches for the tie between foreign occupation and political violence."--Dissent "A lively and sympathetic history of pre-Revolutionary Boston under British occupation." --The New YorkerTable of ContentsContents ; List of Illustrations ; Editor's Note ; Introduction ; Chapter 1 GRENVILLE'S INNOVATION ; Chapter 2 ON THE BRINK ; Chapter 3 POWER AND THE OPPOSITION ; Chapter 4 AN ACCOMMODATION OF SORTS ; Chapter 5 THE TOWNSHEND BLUNDER ; Chapter 6 A MOMENTOUS DECISION ; Chapter 7 CAMPING ON THE COMMON ; Chapter 8 OCCUPATION ; Chapter 9 THE MERCHANTS AND JOHN MEIN ; Chapter 10 PRELUDE TO A TRAGEDY ; Chapter 11 THE MASSACRE ON KING STREET ; Chapter 12 AFTERMATH ; Conclusion A REVOLUTIONARY LEGACY ; Acknowledgments ; Notes ; Works Cited ; Index

    Out of stock

    £14.24

  • On the Spirit of Rights

    The University of Chicago Press On the Spirit of Rights

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisBy the end of the eighteenth century, politicians in America and France were invoking the natural rights of man to wrest sovereignty away from kings and lay down universal basic entitlements. Exactly how and when did rights come to justify such measures? InOn the Spirit of Rights, Dan Edelstein answers this question by examining the complex genealogy of the rights that regimes enshrined in the American and French Revolutions. With a lively attention to detail, he surveys a sprawling series of debates among rulers, jurists, philosophers, political reformers, writers, and others who were all engaged in laying the groundwork for our contemporary systems of constitutional governance. Every seemingly new claim about rights turns out to be a variation on a theme, as late medieval notions were subtly repeated and refined to yield the talk of rights we recognize today. From the Wars of Religion to the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the 1948 Universal DeclarationTrade Review"A superb, erudite piece of intellectual excavation. . . . Edelstein’s skill as an intellectual historian lies especially in his ability to situate ideas in their broadest cultural and political setting." * New York Review of Books *"Provocative and timely." * Times Higher Education *"Edelstein explores how natural rights translated into human rights in his sweeping survey, which canvasses the archaeology of human rights from the Wars of Religion through the Age of Revolution to 1948. [He] provides a helpful new framework for understanding the evolution of human rights in Western society. Highly recommended." * CHOICE *“Rarely has an existing debate been as authoritatively and breathtakingly taken to a new plane as in Edelstein’s sophisticated new story of how ‘rights’ entered European and transatlantic politics in the age of revolution. Clear, erudite, and urbane, Edelstein has shown once again why he is so highly regarded a historian of the eighteenth century’s place in Western intellectual history.” * Samuel Moyn, Yale University *“The Spirit of Rights is an erudite, wide-ranging, and powerful reevaluation of the history of human rights in the West. Rather than viewing either (or both) the U.S. Declaration of Independence or the French Declaration of the Rights of Man as constituting a foundational moment of political modernity, Edelstein sees them as marking a moment in a lively and contentious conversation over rights that can be traced back to the sixteenth century and then through to our own day. The consequent expansion of the historical canvas on which rights have been inscribed explodes conventional teleologies. Written with verve and conviction, The Spirit of Rights is a tour de force: compelling, brilliant, and excitingly thought-provoking.” * Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London *"The author shows tremendous erudition both in relation to the sources and to the relevant literature. The argumentation is impressively clear and the presentation is extremely legible." * Historische Zeitschrift (translated from German) *Table of ContentsI How to Think about Rights in Early Modern Europe 1. Introduction 2. Tectonic Shifts and Tectonic Plates: Two Models for the Transformation of Culture 3. A Revolution in Natural Law? From Objective to Subjective Right (and Back Again) 4. Rights and Sovereignty: Beyond the State 5. Inalienability vs. the Alienation of Rights 6. Roman Law, the Lex Regia, and the Genealogy of Rights Regimes 7. Writing Intellectual History in a Digital Age Part I: Early Modern Rights Regimes II When Did Rights Become “Rights”? From the Wars of Religion to the Dawn of Enlightenment 1. Monarchomachs and Tyrannicides: Natural Rights in the French Wars of Religion 2. English Liberties and Natural Rights: Leveller Arguments in the English Civil War 3. Abridging Natural Rights: Hobbes and the High Church Divines 4. Entrust, but Verify? The Transfer Regime from Spinoza to Locke5. Into the Enlightenment: “Cato” and Hutcheson III From Liberalism to Liberty: Natural Rights in the French Enlightenment 1. Sources for Natural Law Theory in France, 1700–1750 2. Physiocracy and the Dangerous Ignorance of Natural Rights 3. Natural Rights Talk in the Late Enlightenment: The Philosophes Carry the Torch 4. The (Meek) Conservative Reaction 5. Resisting Despotism: National Rights and Constitutionalism Part II: Social Naturalism in Early Modern France IV The Laws of Nature in Neo-Stoicism and Science 1. The Many Receptions of Stoicism 2. Laws of the Natural World: The New Science V Roman Law and Order: From Free-Market Ideology to Abolitionism 1. The Jansenist Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: Jean Domat, the Natural Order, and the Origins of Free-Market Ideology 2. “All Men Are Originally Born Free”: Slavery, Empathy, and the Extension of Human Rights 3. Conclusion Part III: Rights and Revolutions VI Natural Constitutionalism and American Rights 1. Boston, Locke, and Natural Rights (1715–64) 2. Blackstone and English Common Law 3. Natural Rights and Revolution 4. Declaring Rights: From Natural Law Back to English Common Law VII From Nature to Nation: French Revolutionary Rights 1. Whose Rights Are They, Anyway? Rights Talk in the Cahiers de Doléances 2. Debating Rights at the National Assembly 3. The Legal Spirit of the French Declaration of Rights 4. The Revenge of National Rights 5. Conclusion VIII Conclusion: A Stand-in for the Universal Declaration: 1789–1948 1. The Catholic Church, Natural Law, and Human Rights 2. From National Constitutions to an International Declaration 3. The Archaeology of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights Acknowledgments Notes Selected Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £24.70

  • Ordinary People Extraordinary Times

    McGill-Queen's University Press Ordinary People Extraordinary Times

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisA collection of around 350 letters bound for London from Jamaica reveals much about colonial life in 1756. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times paints a picture of the daily life of poor and middling whites, free people of colour, and enslaved people against the backdrop of transatlantic slavery in Jamaica and the eighteenth-century British Empire.Trade Review“Sheryllynne Haggerty introduces us to a terrific archive of letters, making brand new insights into colonial Jamaican history and wrangling an incredibly disparate set of sources into a lively examination of the desires, political interests, consumption patterns, family organizations, and restricted options of both free and enslaved people in the Caribbean. While previous scholarship tends to focus on the elite classes, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times extends our understanding of colonial Jamaican society through an exploration of the everyday.” Daniel Livesay, Claremont McKenna College and author of Children of Uncertain Fortune: Mixed-Race Jamaicans in Britain and the Atlantic Family, 1733–1833

    7 in stock

    £91.80

  • Wallenstein The Enigma of the Thirty Years War

    Palgrave Macmillan Wallenstein The Enigma of the Thirty Years War

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisList of Illustrations Conventions andReferences A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery inside an Enigma No Great Expectations Early Manhood A Scandal in Bohemia Richer Than All his Tribe The Fault Is Not in our Stars Some Achieve Greatness Go, Captain, Greet the Danish King At the Parting of the Ways The Wheel Is Come Full Circle Once More unto the Breach From the Fury of the Norsemen Deliver Us Of Peace and Other Demons Decline and Fall Assassination Is the Quickest Way But Brutus Says He Was Ambitious References Bibliography IndexTrade Review'...thanks to his profound knowledge of the Thirty Years War and his wide reading of both the older and most recent historiography, he is able to offer a very informative, trustworthy and readable account of Wallenstein's life.' The Journal of Military HistoryTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Conventions and References A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery inside an Enigma No Great Expectations Early Manhood A Scandal in Bohemia Richer Than All his Tribe The Fault Is Not in our Stars Some Achieve Greatness Go, Captain, Greet the Danish King At the Parting of the Ways The Wheel Is Come Full Circle Once More unto the Breach From the Fury of the Norsemen Deliver Us Of Peace and Other Demons Decline and Fall Assassination Is the Quickest Way But Brutus Says He Was Ambitious References Bibliography Index

    15 in stock

    £94.99

  • A Womans Civil War  A Diary with Reminiscences of

    MP-WIS Uni of Wisconsin A Womans Civil War A Diary with Reminiscences of

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisCornelia Peake McDonald's story records a personal battle of her own - a southern woman's struggle in the midst of chaos to provide safety and shelter for herself and her nine children. Her diary shows that history is as much a domestic subject as an account of the public affairs of men.

    1 in stock

    £16.16

  • Warrior Generals Winning the British Civil Wars

    Yale University Press Warrior Generals Winning the British Civil Wars

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisPresenting the history of the men who directed and determined the outcome of the mid-seventeenth-century British wars such as Cromwell, Fairfax, and Essex, this title examines how the generals prepared for, fought in, and followed up a battle, and provides an appraisal of the performance of individual commanders set against their peers.

    5 in stock

    £26.12

  • In Nelsons Wake

    Yale University Press In Nelsons Wake

    7 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    7 in stock

    £14.24

  • The Campaign Of 1812 In Russia

    Hachette Books The Campaign Of 1812 In Russia

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisOn June 23, 1812, Napoleon''s Grande Armée, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equally massive Russian army faced them. The ensuing campaign was a catastrophe for Napoleon. Although the battle of Borodino, which resulted in heavy losses on both sides, allowed Napoleon to enter Moscow, his stay in that empty and decimated city was disastrous. By the time Napoleon had retreated to the Berezina river in late November, his Grande Armée was only a fifth of its original strength. His retreat had become a rout, and his allies began to desert him. In this book, Clausewitz analyzes all the significant players with sharp and enlightening characterizations, and provides perhaps the best eyewitness accounts of the battle of Borodino and the Convention of Tauroggen. The Campaign of 1812 in Russia is a brilliantly observed study of one of the major turning points of history.Table of Contents* Arrival at Wilna * Plan of Campaign * Camp of Drissa * General Review of the Incidents of the Campaign of 1812 in Russia * Further Progress of the Campaign

    Out of stock

    £16.14

  • The War of American Independence 17631783

    Taylor & Francis Ltd The War of American Independence 17631783

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe War of American Independence, 17631783: Falling Dominoes addresses the military, maritime and naval, economic, key personalities, key societal groups, political, imperial rivalry, and diplomatic dynamics and events from the post-Seven Years' War era in Great Britain's North American colonies through the end of the War of American Independence.Beginning in 1763 and moving through the war chronologically, the authors argue that British political and strategic leaders failed to develop an effective strategy to quell the discontent and subsequent revolt in the North American colonies and thus failed to restore allegiance to the Crown. This book describes and analyzes events and the outcomes of central players' decisionsthe British North American colonies, Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republicand the resultant actions. It examines events through the thematic lens of strategy, political and military leadership, public attitudes, economics, international Table of ContentsPart 1: Blowing the Matches 1. "In A Fit of Absence of Mind" 2. The Shot Heard ‘Round the World 3. High Water Mark Part 2: Stalemate in the Middle 4. Divide and Conquer 5. Shift to the Middle 6. A Harsh Winter Part 3: Southern Gambit 7. "A Want of Discrimination" 8. Campaign in the Backcountry 9. The North Carolina and Virginia Invasions Part 4: "A Measure of Utmost Importance" 10. Sea Power and the American War 11. A Global War 12. War Termination

    1 in stock

    £34.19

  • REVOLUTION MAPPING THE ROAD TO

    WW Norton & Co REVOLUTION MAPPING THE ROAD TO

    7 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe American Revolution's progress shown in 60 spectacular contemporary maps.Trade Review"This glorious collection-ravishingly beautiful, exquisitely curated, brilliantly annotated-is one of the most graphic and illuminating treatments of the American Revolution ever brought to press. Here is the road to revolution and the war itself, from the opening of the French and Indian War in 1755 to the surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris two years later. Combining the virtues of an historical atlas, a luscious exhibition, and a detailed but concise history of the wars, it is a GPS to the American Revolution." -- Ric Burns, documentary filmmaker, Steeplechase Films "Revolution is a dazzling achievement that casts new light on the imperial wars of the late eighteenth century. These maps-many of them rare manuscripts, reproduced here for the first time-remind us that the battle for (and against) American independence unfolded in space as well as in time. Here the long road to revolution becomes visible as a hard-fought contest over territory as well as clash of ideals. A feast for the eye, Revolution also invites fresh thinking about the founding of the United States and Britain's American War." -- Jane Kamensky, Mary Ann Lippitt Professor of American History, Brown University "This beautiful book, with its superbly reproduced images, brings to life the decades leading to the birth of the U.S.A. The authors have given a highly skilled analysis of the background, contents and significance of the images. The readable style and brilliant use of little-known cartographical works has created a book that anyone with an interest in the interplay between maps and history should buy-and read." -- Peter Barber, head of Map Collections, the British Library

    7 in stock

    £53.99

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